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A career in UX research

Have you thought about a career as a UX researcher?

According to Allovus Recruiter Brian Jensen, “Demand for UX researchers is increasing, especially as two factors become more prevalent within organizations:

Designing for accessibility is no longer a nice-to-have, but more of a critical component for leaders to keep top-of-mind when approaching product development. (Regardless of what the product is; whether it’s consumer-facing, enterprise platforms, tools, etc.) Accessible design is incredibly important, and the researchers who are intimately involved in uncovering what is good and bad in this area are key in creating a well designed product.

Paying for research earlier in the design process can be more cost efficient than paying for a QA division to test, bug-squash, and refine the design after it’s built. And having market saturation means that if a product on launch is difficult or confusing to use, the user will move on to the next offering versus sticking with a product until their feedback is used to fix a feature down the road.”

So, what type of person makes good UX researcher?

“UX researchers seem to have an appreciation for the things that aren’t overtly seen or acknowledged, but are directly tied into a user’s overall satisfaction with a product. For example, someone loves using a particular app because it’s super intuitive or easy to use. The researcher knows why, even if the user can’t put their finger on why they like the product. It seems to be a good career for folks who want the best outcome for a user, without it necessarily being something that the user ever sees/feels/or acknowledges consciously,” Jensen said. “It’s a great field for those with the ability to put themselves into the perspective of others, ask thoughtful questions, and provide meaningful analysis of the data.”

How can you prepare for a career in UX research?

Though you don’t need to have a specific degree in UX Research to start a career in it, you do need to have a deep knowledge of user behavior and technology use. Typically, UX researchers come from backgrounds like psychology, heuristics, anthropology, sociology, and other behavioral fields.

For more on asking the right questions, watch Google Search User Experience researcher Tomer Sharonas he shares interview techniques to help you get better answers in your customer research.

Allovus is always on the lookout for UX Researchers. “First, because we’re seeing more clients asking for them and second, because researchers often times have a skill set that overlaps closely with UX designers,” Allovus Recruiter Brian Jensen said.